It is often said the laughter is the best medicine. But researchers at the University of Oxford think the ability to belly laughs (捧腹大笑) was unique to early humans. This, they believe, made our ancestors (祖先) able to form much larger groups.
The researchers first tested the pain thresholds (临界值) of some volunteers. They divided them into two groups. One group was shown 15 minutes of comedy videos, while the other was shown boring programs.
Through this experiment, the researchers found that those who had recently experienced belly laughs were able to withstand (忍受) up to 10% more pain than they had done before watching the videos. To their surprise, the scientists also found that the other group was less able to withstand pain after watching 15 minutes of the “boring” programs.
Professor Robin Dunbar of Oxford University, who led the research, believed that belly laughs release chemicals called endorphins (安多芬) into the body which make us feel less painful.
However, not all comedy programs had such effects, according to Prof Dunbar. For example, though clever stand-up comedy was found to be enjoyable, it had no effect on raising pain thresholds. “Things that worked very well were interesting comedies such as Mr. Bean. Situation comedies such as Friends also seemed to be particularly successful,” he added.
In order to measure (测量) endorphin levels, the researchers put a bag of ice on the volunteers’ arms to see how long they could withstand them. They found that the greater the increase in pain thresholds, the greater the amount of endorphins produced.
The purpose of Prof Dunbar’s study was not to develop a new treatment. Instead, it was to study the role of laughter in the forming of human societies two million years ago.
“The next stage will be to see whether laughing really allows people to keep together and work as a group better and be more friendly towards each other. If that is the case, then it may explain why some two million years ago, the first humans were able to form large communities of up to 100,” Dunbar added.
1．Prof Dunbar’s study was to ________.| A．test the pain thresholds of humans |
| B．explore the influence of laughter in forming human societies |
| C．develop a new kind of medicine that reduces pain |
| D．measure the endorphin levels while laughing |
| A．watch some scary films | B．watch some beautiful pictures |
| C．watch some comedy videos | D．watch some boring programs |
| A．Chemicals which make people feel less painful. |
| B．Medicine which tests the pain thresholds of people. |
| C．Comedy videos which make people laugh. |
| D．Boring programs which make people painful. |
| A．The first humans could only form small communities less than 100. |
| B．Laughter makes people keep together and work as a group. |
| C．People who laugh a lot are more friendly towards each other. |
| D．More experiments about laughter will be carried out. |
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